


Hedwig and the Philosopher's Stone

by JonRiptide



Series: Hedwig Time Travel [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Animagus, Hogwarts First Year, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-05
Updated: 2020-08-27
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:42:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,960
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25080088
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JonRiptide/pseuds/JonRiptide
Summary: In sixth year, Harry Potter falls victim to a masterful and evil plan from Voldemort. Now, 5 years later and with the world firmly under the grasp of Voldemort, Hedwig has a boring job at Amazon. When on a hectic Prime Day, the delivery center is attacked, effectively canceling Two-Day Shipping, Hedwig has to run for her life. What she doesn't expect is being caught by a magic explosion that turns her into an Aniowl. When a sudden turn of events sends her back in time, she would have a chance to fix everything that was broken. Can she learn how to speak English in time to save the world? Canon compliant until sixth year.
Relationships: Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley
Series: Hedwig Time Travel [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1816381
Comments: 7
Kudos: 10





	1. The Owl that Survived

**Author's Note:**

> 1\. DISCLAIMER. The obvious. I do not own anything. Thanks to Ms Rowling for giving us such wonderful stories, even if I don't agree on her recent statements.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A peaceful breakfast is interrupted

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. Thanks a lot to FemaleDemon(ffnet) for helping me with grammar here, and to IWantABetterWebsite(ffnet) who provided valued feedback in a comment and then helped me find the better way to write this chapter.
> 
> 2\. I wonder if anyone ever really reads these notes.
> 
> 3\. Any error here is mine and not from my reviewer. If you spot anything or have a doubt about grammar used or plot just PM me, I'm always swift to answer.
> 
> 4\. Enjoy.

The Great Hall was a sight worthy of admiration. The fake ceiling was marvelous, there was no denying it, still, that was not all there was to it. As she glided through the refreshing morning air as she had done thousands of times before, Hedwig admired the owls.

Granted, she was an owl herself. However, the morning delivery of packages was something that had always fascinated her, ever since her first year there. The sound and sight of a hundred owls of various sizes and colors delivering the post was a true wonder. The owlery had all those owls as well, but Hedwig preferred the hot food smell of the Great Hall to that of bird crap, which was all around the owlery.

She flapped her snow-white wings a couple of times more before extending them and gracefully making her way down to her master. The boy everyone knew as Harry Potter.

"Thank you, girl. Here, have a bite," the boy said, giving Hedwig a piece of greasy and crunchy bacon as she left the small square package in front of him.

_Now bacon was the real magic._

As her small black beak skillfully broke through the crunchy pieces of bacon, Hedwig looked at the girl with the big hair sitting next to Harry. Her name was Hermione, and she was one of her master’s oldest friends. The girl was going through the morning paper, sparing only a casual glance at Harry’s new package.

The big brown hair had always thrilled Hedwig. She often stared at it, wondering if it could be used to make a warm nest. She supposed it could, and a rather big one at that. 

"Nothing new, fortunately," said the girl once she had finished skimming through the headlines. "No disappearances reported today."

Harry gave her a weak smile as he turned to scratch Hedwig's neck, which was the very best feeling in the world. Harry and Hermione then went on to discuss more of the ongoing war.

Magical owls had always been granted a degree of understanding of the human language, How else would they be able to follow the mailing instructions given to them? Hedwig wasn't sure how that worked, but she was glad to know more about her surrounding world. Even if she cared about it only a little. Hedwig was an owl of simple needs; as long as her master was okay and there was bacon on her beak, she could consider herself a happy owl.

Hedwig knew of the war, for sure. She hadn't seen this evil wizard herself, but she had heard plenty of him. Voldemort. Sometimes it was all the humans talked about. Voldemort was somehow trying to overthrow the order of things for some reason foreign to her, and she accepted the information had some sort of value, but she would rather hear about other topics as well. 

"Were you expecting a package today?" Hermione asked Harry.

"Not really, no."

"Who is it from?" she insisted.

"I don't know."

Hermione turned to Hedwig, only for a bit, as if she could give the girl an answer. The package had arrived at the school like that, as all packages did. Hedwig had only brought it to the table. If only she could shrug at the girl convincingly, she would do so.

"You should take it to Dumbledore. It might contain something dangerous," Hermione said.

"Dumbledore is away. Who knows when he'll return."

"Honestly, Harry. As if waiting a few days could kill you," Hermione argued.

Harry looked away, somewhat annoyed by the words. He lifted the package, trying to find a note, but without much success. To Hedwig, who knew all about Harry’s mail, the package was intriguing as well. She had no clue who could have sent it, especially considering that Sirius was dead now.

Hedwig had delivered some letters to Sirius throughout the last few years, and it had been a real shame finding out about his death. There had been a time when approaching him had been a challenge on its own, what with the smell and that. However, the man had always given her good treats, and that was more than what Hedwig could ask for.

“You shouldn’t open it,” Hermione insisted when she saw Harry doing just that. The boy threw her a defiant look and proceeded with his task. So, as was usual, Hermione turned to their red-haired friend for backup, "Aren't you going to say anything?" she asked him.

Ron only huffed, keeping his eyes on his food. For a few days now he had been rather edgy, especially towards Hermione. Hedwig reckoned it had something to do with that sport they played on brooms, Quidditch. A subpar way of flying if they asked her.

At his groaning response, Hermione rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to Harry.

Hedwig truly couldn't understand those two. Hermione and Ron, that was. It was obvious to her that all that they wanted was to mate their brains out. She could almost smell it from them. Hedwig could relate to that urge. There was this big barn owl at the owlery who had slick feathers and a big puffy chest, and Hedwig was going to ruffle his big feathers one of these days. What Hedwig couldn't understand though, was what was stopping Hermione and Ron from doing just that. One of these days, Hedwig would have to peck their pants off and push them together.

"It's probably nothing, Hermione," Harry insisted, annoyed. "Voldemort is not going to mail me a killing curse."

With swift movements, her master opened the package in front of him, revealing a golden Quidditch ball with a note pasted to it. The note said ' _Grab me'_.

Even Ron raised an eyebrow at that.

"What is this?" Harry asked.

The boy was thicker than Hedwig had initially thought. ‘ _That’_ was clearly a ball. Was her master blind now? He had his glasses on.

Hermione looked worried. "I don't know what it’s supposed to mean, but no matter what don't— DON’T GRAB IT!"

But Harry did grab it, ignoring his loud friend. The next moment, he was gone. Just like that. Hedwig opened her big yellow eyes even bigger than usual.

_What in the hooting fuck._

Ron’s swearing had been rubbing on her, it seemed. Could they blame her though? Her master just disappeared not one foot away from her. These humans did that sometimes, disappearing, giving a heads up before doing it would be very much appreciated.

"By Merlin's saggy balls! Harry Potter is gone!" someone yelled.

"You can't apparate inside Hogwarts!" another one insisted.

"We know!" a few annoyed voices replied.

Hermione rushed to her feet and started looking around Harry's seat. Hedwig stayed in her place, perched on the table. She turned her head completely sideways in puzzlement.

So, her master hadn’t disappeared intentionally? If that was so, she couldn't understand where he had gone. Yet she saw his plate unfinished nearby, so once she thought no one would mind, she grabbed another piece of bacon.

The people who had seen her master disappear into thin air were quick to share it with those who had been distracted. Soon enough, plenty of students approached them, mumbling all sorts of theories.

“Did he truly disappear? It was surely some trick…”

“I still don’t buy it… He couldn’t have disappeared…”

“He’s Harry effing Potter. If he wants to disappear or play the drums on a dragon’s back, he just does it…”

“I heard he put a _‘Wash my hair’_ sign on Snape’s back once…”

Hermione, who had finished throwing some spells with apparently little success, turned to them with a glare. “Stand back! You’re not helping!” she told the audience, half-angry, half desperate.

Carefully, Hedwig perched on the edge of the table and turned her head down. No, her master was not hiding there.

"That was a portkey! I told him not to touch it," Hermione complained. "But does he ever listen?! Of course not!"

Ron approached her, bewildered. After seeing Harry disappear he seemed to be more willing to talk to Hermione. “What do we do now?” he asked.

“Now? You should’ve backed me BEFORE he touched that rubbish!”

The boy’s ears went red as he turned grumbling to his feet.

People in the Great Hall were talking loudly now, others were searching around. No one was minding Hedwig claiming all of the remaining bacon for herself. The owl was confused though. Where did her master go? Was he just tired of being next to Hermione and Ron's growing sexual tension? Or did he leave to release his own sexual tension? That was unlikely, since Ron's sister was still at the table, still next to that other boy she was dating.

"There’s nothing to do here, he’s gone. We have to get Dumbledore," Hermione hurried.

"Dumbledore is gone," Ron said.

"Then we go to Professor McGonagall! But we have to move!" the girl yelled. Then she turned to some humans who were just making their way through the crowd. “Harry touched an anonymous portkey, and now he’s left to Who-Knows-Where. Can you give another look around? Ron and I will go to McGonagall.”

Neville, Harry’s plump friend, nodded quickly. Harry’s newest crush, Ginny, was by his side looking tense. “Sure. We’re on it.”

Next, Hermione turned back to Hedwig, "You're coming with us," she said.

Now that was unexpected.

The two humans dragged Hedwig away. She wasn’t sure why, it was not like she had Harry hidden under her wings. They didn’t seem to realize that though.

The two students and the owl turned through many halls and passed by many doors, lots of places Hedwig had never been to. Soon they reached an enclosed room, an office they called it. Inside, an old woman was going through some papers. Hermione and Ron quickly explained Harry's disappearance to her. The woman was distressed and alarmed by it.

"That boy's recklessness! It would save us plenty of hassle if he was cautious about this sort of thing," complained the witch.

A couple of moving portraits in the office nodded. One of them was a one-eyed witch.

"He's not—with him, is he?" Hermione asked, anxious.

"We can only hope not."

Ron was next to her. He didn't say anything, yet he looked pale.

"Professor, can you find out who sent the package? From Hedwig?" asked Hermione.

"Miss Granger, I know you're worried, but if I ever gave you the impression of being an owl _legilimens_ , let me tell you I am in fact not."

Hedwig hooted angrily as she moved her head menacingly to Hermione and flapped her wings. She didn't like this talk of getting something out of her, especially when she was pretty certain she didn't know who sent the package.

The professor then went on to summon one of those shining, silvery animals. A cat. The next moment she was talking to it as if the cat was Dumbledore, the old wizard who looked like Father Christmas. The cat left in a hurry.

As Hermione went over the possibilities and what could they do to help, Hedwig had her own things to muse over. She started to wonder about her part in all of this. Was it her fault? She brought that thing that made her master disappear, that much she could tell.

Just as the old witch was about to dismiss them, a thunderous voice echoed, as if coming out of the very walls of the school.

" _You have lost. Harry Potter is dead,_ " stated the voice.

Hedwig flapped her wings again, turning to the humans.

"It—It can't be—" Ron said, pale. Next to him, Hermione gasped and turned to the teacher with a look of disbelief.

"Voldemort," McGonagall just whispered.

The voice continued, " _Harry Potter was killed by his own stupidness. And he fought like a scared and crippled mudblood girl."_

“Why, now that was just rude,” said a man in a portrait.

“Merlin, I knew this Voldemort was a racist, but I wasn’t expecting the sexism,” added the one-eyed witch in the other portrait.

“He doesn’t sound like a champion for disabled people either,” said the first portrait, with a gesture.

Professor McGonagall turned to them with a frown. “Silence you two, this is hardly the time,” she reprimanded them with a weak tone.

The creepy voice was not done, " _Come meet me at the gates. I have the deepest respect for all magical blood. Together, we can bring about a new society, more prosperous than ever."_

There was a piercing silence after that. Hedwig just couldn't believe it, her master couldn't be dead. He was supposed to defeat the evil wizard, save the world, and all that rubbish. The others kept saying it all the time. The owl remembered him then, not as the young lad who stupidly touched a clearly suspicious package because someone said he shouldn't, but as the boy she had first met many years ago.

Gloominess invaded Hedwig in a way she had never felt it before. Harry Potter had been very kind to her through all of these years. He always bought her premium treats when they went to the shopping market and scratched that place just below her chin which she liked so much. He couldn't be dead.

The next moments were chaotic, as Professor McGonagall and the two teens rushed through the castle in the direction of the main doors. Hedwig flew behind them. She needed to be sure. She didn't want to accept it.

Outside, the whole school seemed to be there already. As most of them were in the Great Hall when the evil wizard's voice came, it only made sense that they had beat them there. The teachers were there too, including the big giant one whose wiry beard could be used as a fairly decent nest. Even better than Hermione’s hair. Hagrid.

Hedwig made her way forward and perched herself on Ron’s shoulder. He winced but was still too shocked to make a real effort to put her away.

On the other side of the gates, a group of humans was coming in. They were all in black, as if they had agreed to dress the same that day, which was a terrible choice for a day as sunny as that one. The man in the front was tall and pale as could be, but in a greyish tone. Certainly not as white as Hedwig's feathers, which were thankfully fresh enough for this weather. Hedwig had to blink twice when she saw that the man had no nose or beak whatsoever.

At his feet, he let the lifeless body of Harry fall with a thud, like a heavy sack of owl food.

"HARRY!" the voice of Hermione pierced the air.

More whines and cries of disbelief came. From Ron, Ginny, and the old professor McGonagall, but from other students as well. This didn't seem possible, her master had to stand up any moment now. Any moment. Maybe if they let her peck him a bit...

The bald man, Voldemort it seemed, took another step forward. "Your cause is lost. Join me now and we can—"

"NO!" another voice interrupted him. It was Neville, who was moving through the crowd. "Even if Harry's gone, we'll keep fighting, we'll never surrender, we'll—"

"Avada Kedavra," said Voldemort. Then a green light came out of his wand and Neville fell to the floor.

There were more yells and cries from the students as people rushed to the boy's lifeless body. _What? Is he dead now? Just like that?_

Hedwig had liked that boy. It was easy to convince him to give her food.

"As I was saying," continued Voldemort, "join me and we can build a better future. One where you're not as dead as that dead boy I just killed." Then he turned to his side. "What was the boy's name? Anyone know?"

A crazy-looking woman next to him hurried to answer. "Neville, his name was Neville Longbottom, my lord."

"Longbottom? Really?" Voldemort grimaced awkwardly. "People are still bullied when they get names like those nowadays, aren’t they?"

"Of course, my lord. Very much bullied," a man, who to Hedwig looked pretty much like an arse-kisser, said hurriedly.

"Good," Voldemort said, then realized he still had an audience of students and teachers before him. "As I was saying, together we can build a future where you're not as dead as this boy, Neville...Longbottom."

The professors were about to step forward when voices cried out in relief and the crowd parted to reveal Dumbledore striding through them, the teacher with the greasy black hair close behind. The headmaster didn't look happy. He looked fearsome, or as fearsome as one could look in long, shining robes. The old wizard had made his dramatic entrance just in time. Or almost in time, actually. The boy Neville would have surely preferred an earlier intervention.

"That’s enough! This is not your place anymore! I am expelling you from these sacred grounds!" the headmaster replied, in front of the whole school now. He spared a sad look to Harry's body.

Voldemort smiled wickedly, turning to his companions. "Can you believe how senile he has turned?!" Then flipped back to Dumbledore, raising his voice. "You can't expel me! I already finished school! Decades ago!"

"It was an expression."

"Very badly worded."

Dumbledore frowned. "The words were apt. You lost your right to step on this ground the day you raised your wand against the innocent and unprotected."

Voldemort looked uncertain for a moment, yet he soon recovered. "You can garnish and perfume your phrases all you want. Your senseless ideals won't reach me…or any of the fine people I have brought here today," he said, gesturing to his supporters, who laughed and puffed their chests out.

"They could reach you, but you wouldn't be able to notice the perfume in such words," Albus Dumbledore said, before smiling a bit and touching his nose lightly.

Voldemort's smile faded. Reactions came from both sides of the conflict.

Hedwig, who had been paying attention to every word since the two men started sparring, realized that she didn’t have a clue what they were going on about. Were they going to fight or not?

"Silence!" shouted Voldemort, and the whole grounds shut up as if by magic means. "It's all over, old man! Your hero is dead. As dead as he can be. As dead as Neville Longbottom. The boy over there…" Voldemort pointed at Neville's body with his long fingers, "And just so there's no doubt…"

The evil man threw more green light at the body of Harry, then another light that made his loose body jump and contort, then green light again. "He's dead." insisted Voldemort, just so that was clear.

Every time Harry's body was thrown a new curse, someone in the audience complained or tried to step forward, yet the teachers kept them in check. Hedwig had to wince back a couple of times herself. How could he do that to her master?

"Enough!" thundered Dumbledore, his shining, long robes almost blinding in the sunlight. The old man's anger didn't let him show the three hundred years he surely had on him. "We’re very pained to see you pulled a foul action to get to Harry, but we will never surrender."

The vast number of people on their side of the conflict showed their willing support to Dumbledore, but the attackers didn’t seem to have lessened their own willingness to attack.

"Albus, maybe we should prioritize the students' safety first," Professor McGonagall said.

The other teacher, Snape, intervened. "Nonsense, Minerva. Let them fight."

Behind Hedwig, who was still perched on Ron’s shoulder, a weird boy yelled in excitement "Oh man! IT. IS. ON!"

And fight they did. It was all nuts. Dumbledore created a twelve feet giant out of the ground while Voldemort tried to pull it down with a heavy fire whip. All the while, they kept taunting one another with the most hurtful words they could muster. In Hedwig's opinion, Dumbledore's game could improve with some well-placed swearing, but everyone had their style.

Some students ran back to the castle at once, while others engaged with the attackers. The small teacher, the one with the glasses and the neat mustache turned an attacker into a giant ball that was soon kicked away. Then an attacker moved forward and threw a spell so intense that the teacher who was hit by it melted into a hot puddle of tar.

"Merlin! Someone just made a hot soup out of the Ancient Runes teacher!"

Hedwig hadn't really paid attention to the woman before she melted, so she couldn't remember how she looked, much less her name. Actually, Harry had never mentioned her.

It was all mayhem. Wherever she flew, Hedwig had to dive and flap her wings to get away from a green beam or a purple one or some other ruddy spell color. People were being killed left and right, sometimes in pretty gruesome ways, others in more plain ones. Dozens were on the floor with their eyes staring at nothing. On the far side of the grounds, Dumbledore was riding his giant, but now it had teeth made of the school gates and a bloody big-arse sword too. Voldemort was riding a huge snake which was spitting acid.

However, it all soon came to an end. Once Dumbledore stepped on his unpractically long robe and slipped, it was all over. The old wizard fell from the massive earth giant to his death. And Voldemort was quick to throw a green light at the old man's body.

"THERE! I KILLED HIM! EVERYONE SAW THAT!" he shouted.

Hedwig didn't know what she was still doing there, she was no witch. However, the mayhem made it impossible for her to think clearly, much less to get to a safe place. It was a miracle that she was still alive.

"That's Potter's owl! Get it!" a fat boy yelled, and Hedwig's eyes opened wide.

She dodged as the fat fingers made for her tail. That had been a close one. The fat boy was going to fire something at Hedwig when luckily someone came to her rescue. A dark-skinned girl smashed the boy down, hitting right him in the face with a ruddy big log.

"Shut up, Goyle!" she said.

Hedwig flew to the other side, dodging more spells and glimpsing at fallen bodies. Unfortunately, one of those spells caught her right in the arse and made her feel as if electricity was flowing from her nether regions to the rest of her body. Just by sheer luck, she was able to fly away from her attacker, stumbling in pain and grunting.

She soon found Hermione bent over Ron’s body. At first, Hedwig thought they had finally decided to get on with the mating, though they were acting rather stupidly. This was hardly the time for mating, no matter how much time they had been waiting. However, as Hedwig got closer, she realized that Hermione was actually trying to heal Ron’s leg, which had an awful cut.

Hermione was entirely focused on her task until Ron said something and the girl turned to him in surprise. The next moment Ron was kissing her, but it didn’t last, for an attacker with long blond hair came to them.

"Malfoy!" Hermione yelled, her eyes puffy and red.

She was skilled, Hedwig had heard, but she was in no condition to win this fight. Not when she had her guard down and was trying to shield Ron.

One time, Harry had arrived at the table totally shirty after a fight with a Malfoy and had asked Hedwig as if an owl’s beak could actually take someone’s eye out. He hadn’t been serious then, but Hedwig thought it was a good time to test that theory. In a swift movement, Hedwig dived, beak at the front.

“Bloody…his eye!” Ron muttered.

The eye did come out. Guess that was a doubt she wouldn’t be having anymore.

"You stupid bird!" the man boomed, extending his arm.

Unfortunately, this time Hedwig was unable to fly away as the man did manage to grab her tail, which was quite sensitive after someone had almost hexed her shit out. Hermione tried to help, but she was knocked down when Hagrid was pushed nearby and landed on top of her. By the time the girl could get out from under the massive man, Hedwig would be dead.

The snowy owl flapped her wings as wildly as she could, but the man didn't let go. She turned to him and saw a mad determination on his face, even with the bleeding eye socket. Hedwig closed her eyes, waiting to be killed as well. Then, a quiet voice issued a curse and her attacker's head blew off in a mess of green goo and blood. The headless body fell to the floor with a thud and her mysterious savior was revealed to be the greasy-haired teacher, Snape.

"You have lost your head for the last time, Lucius," Snape sneered.

"Professor—" tried Hermione, now free from under Hagrid's unconscious body.

"Go! There's nothing to do here now. Take as many as you can," said Snape.

Hedwig kept her distance, covered in the blood and goo of the late Lucious Malfoy.

Then, the evil voice returned, Voldemort was soon standing ten feet away from them. "You have used your wand against my men for the last time, Severus!" he boomed.

Hedwig saw a young boy at Voldemort's back, who took the evil wizard by surprise and hit him with a curse. Unfortunately, the only curse the kid seemed to know was the tickling charm, and, after laughing his shit out, the dark wizard killed the boy.

Snape tried to take advantage of the distraction, but a massive snake came and ate the professor in a single mouthful. The last Hedwig heard of him was his pleading cry as he turned to Hermione, "Fly, you fools!"

With tears in her eyes, Hermione raced back to Ron, and Hedwig lost sight of her in the crowd. Hedwig followed Snape's advice and made it to the air.

Hedwig would have loved to say that she had stayed and fought to her last breath, but she was not a Gryffindor. Actually, she was just an owl. Besides, the battle was clearly over. There was nothing left to do there.

In the air and plenty of feet away from the castle, Hedwig could still hear the yells and the cries. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was in flames when just moments earlier it had been perfectly okay, with bright owls flying on its Great Hall. Hedwig couldn't avoid but think that none of this would have happened if she hadn't delivered that bloody package.

Soon the whole of Britain was going to be Voldemort's, and the world would follow. Flying erratically away, covered in grief, blood, and some goo as well, Hedwig wasn't sure of anything anymore. Her small heart ached and she didn't have a single clue of what she was going to do now.


	2. The Arse That Flipped

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A shipping goes awry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. Thanks a lot to FemaleDemon(ffnet) for helping me give a look at this before publishing.
> 
> 2\. Any error here is mine and not from my reviewer. If you spot anything or have a doubt about the grammar used or plot just PM me, I'm always swift to answer.
> 
> 3\. Enjoy.

After three long years of smelling its trees and flying its skies, Hedwig had come to realize that America was kind of underwhelming.

The environment around her was pleasant, the owl had to admit. The trees and the fresh smell of the Pacific Northwest were something easy to get used to. However, after imagining America for so long as this magical continent full of energy and parties, Hedwig felt kind of cheated. It was not that much different from Britain after all.

Granted, the trees were of a different variety here and she had discovered animal species that she was not used to seeing back at home — Merlin, did she hate those raccoons. Even so, the change was not that big. Not really. She could still find shelter on the top of the trees, as she would do back at home, and there was plenty of prey to feed on. It rained a dreadful lot too.

Maybe things would've turned out differently if she had chosen to live in _Las Vegas_. She'd heard they had brilliant buffets over there.

 _Used to have_ , she reminded herself.

The world was a different place these days, one could not be certain which buffets existed and which ones had disappeared. Muggles were hunted left and right, and plenty of them now lived in secluded areas, hiding from Voldemort's supporters. They were lucky a great number of wizards still opposed that noseless man because magic had been crucial in keeping those muggles alive.

Hedwig still remembered that day. _Black breakfast,_ as she had come to think of it. Some nights she still dreamed of it. Some memories had turned foggy with time, but others remained. She couldn't for one forget the motionless body of the boy who used to be her master, nor the sticky green goo that had been Lucius Malfoy's head. It had taken days to wash that one out.

It had all happened so fast. The Magical Ministry fell within days, and with it the whole of Britain. Europe followed a few months after. Soon, bigots and thugs came out to support Voldemort, as if coming from the very sewers. The magical secret was unveiled as muggles unleashed open war against Voldemort. They seemed to have an advantage at the beginning, for they were tougher than Voldemort expected; however, muggles had found it hard to defend against the _Imperius_ and other trickery. More often than not, their weapons would be used to attack other or friendly wizards, instead of the real enemy. That was the state of the war now, which, in some places, was a war mostly in name now.

As Hedwig flew back to Amazon's Distribution Center, she couldn't stop but wonder how she ended up with her current job.

It had been a quiet night, two years after _Black Breakfast,_ that the owl decided to try fate in America. She had had nothing but ill-luck in Britain. Her attempts of locating Hermione had proven unsuccessful and it was more than likely that she was already dead. The remaining Malfoys had found out Hedwig had taken Lucius' eye, which was unfortunate, as they now had this daft crusade of killing every snowy owl in sight. Something bad for Hedwig's health, certainly.

 _They had birdseed for brains, those Malfoys_ , Hedwig thought nastily. Why did they even care so much about late Lucius' little eye? Without a head, he didn't have much use of it anyway.

At least on this side of the sea, Hedwig was safe from stupid grudges. Owls were valued and respected, which was a reason why she got her current gig.

When the most basic muggle structures fell, so did their traditional shipping and delivery services. A muggle man named Jeff partnered with some wizards to keep his old company alive through magical means. He recruited as many magical owls as he could to deliver mail and packages between the remaining muggle-friendly communities. And Hedwig was one of those owls.

After gracefully gliding into the Amazon building, Hedwig took her usual perch by the window. There were over a dozen perches in that small room, which the humans called _'The Owls' Landing'_. Most of those perches were unoccupied at the moment. It was a cozy place for an office, and the human in charge of it kept it clean and thoughtfully illuminated. Nevertheless, Hedwig missed the loud screeches and — as weird as it sounded — the bird crap from Hogwarts' Owlery.

Well, maybe Hedwig didn't miss the crap part of it, but the sense of home it had given her back then. The owl had accepted that feeling was not going to return now though. This was her home now, a place of lively office chats which smelt like fresh coffee all the time.

"Everything well there, _Whitewing_?" a big-nosed man said to her, once on her perch.

Whitewing they called her. It was not a bad name per se, but she already had one. A name she was fond of. A name she hadn't found a way to share with these humans.

"You know her better than that, Chad," said a dark-skinned woman who was in charge of the Owls' Landing, "Whitewing always delivers in time. Isn't it that right girl?"

Hedwig felt odd at that. On one side, it was impossible to hear someone calling her _girl_ and not remember Harry with sorrow. On the other hand, she couldn't say no to a good scratch under the chin.

"She better, or Jeff would go all over us with his silly metrics. Him and his stupid Two-Day Shipping."

A loud hoot came out of Hedwig. It was her way of telling them she could handle all the Two-Day Shipping deliveries in the world, as long as they gave her proper time to rest and limited themselves to a certain area of coverage.

"You're free to go, Whitewing," said the woman, Prisha, after registering Hedwig's return on a whiteboard, "Go get yourself some food."

Hedwig gave them her best attempt at a nod, then flew out of the window.

It was a dry afternoon, which was her preferred choice for hunting. It didn't take her long to find a country mouse and beat a pesky raccoon to it. The raccoon extended its hand as she passed and almost scratched her wing doing so. Merlin, she really, really, hated raccoons.

Once done with her meal, Hedwig returned to their concealed community. It was a small set of buildings in the middle of the state. A wall and magical wards protected its two or three hundred houses from intruders. It was officially named _Secure Post 17_ , but it sounded too cold, so people usually used the more homely name " _The Secure Post_ " to refer to it.

There were some wizards in town, which made building and the healing tasks easier for the muggles. Still, the majority of the people there were non-magical, or as Americans liked to call them, _no-majs_. Plenty of the activities in town were done solely by muggles. Like the bakery, which served the whole place. Hedwig was fond of it because Bradley, the baker, usually had bread leftovers to feed to her.

Once she was satisfied with her time out, Hedwig made her return to the distribution center. There, she noticed that more owls were back at their places in the Owls' Landing. She hooted in recognition at the ones she was more close to, _Proudwing_ and _Spottedwing_. Yes, the humans were that lazy with names.

Proudwing was a big barn owl which Hedwig followed with her yellow eyes whenever he flew about. Unfortunately, he had refused Hedwig advances so far and she had to accept that he was just not into snowy owls at all. Actually, local snowy owls were only seen around winter, which was when Hedwig could try to release some steam shamelessly. Not that it could result in any offspring though, she had long discovered that the spell that got on her arse back on _Black Breakfast_ had left her essentially barren.

"Hey guys, working hard or hardly working?" said Kevin, the maintenance lad, as he came to take a snack in the Owls' Landing with Chad and Prisha. He even had the nerve to wink at them.

Hedwig frowned, hooting loudly at Kevin. Then returned to eat her birdseed.

It was coffee break, and, since Prisha had installed a coffee machine in the Owls' Landing as well, those three humans usually spent the break next to Hedwig. They were going on with their usual boring conversation, which Hedwig couldn't possibly care less about. Even so, Hedwig remembered she had cared little about human conversations before. She had cared but little about talk of war and dark wizards. Maybe, if she had paid more attention all those years ago, Hedwig wouldn't have let her master open that package. Maybe she should've pecked his eye out if that was what it would have taken to keep him from doing it. Harry Potter would be looking like a pirate these days, but he would still be alive.

Out of an odd sense of regret, the owl decided to follow the humans' conversations a little. Thinking it might do good to stay in the loop. However, once she heard them talking about the best way to cook curry, she went back to ignoring them. If a new war was going to happen because she didn't know how to properly prepare curry, so be it.

At her left, _Spottedwing_ turned to the opened door. She was a grey owl, a feisty one. If the office wasn't such a chaotic place that day, Spottedwing would be out there flying over the cubicles. But today was _Prime Day_ , a day of special prices that Jeff had insisted on keeping. Everyone in the office was busy trying to keep the orders coming, which only meant that Hedwig would be having tons of work in the upcoming days.

"So how's Bobby?" Chad asked Kevin.

"Busy, as you can imagine," Kevin added, half-heartedly, "My brother is the _Post's_ celebrity this week. He's barely had time for me."

"It's not a small feat, to go all the way to New York and back, what with the current state of things," Prisha replied.

Kevin shrugged. "I guess so."

The longing was clear in their faces. Sometimes Hedwig forgot these humans had known a different life before this lockdown as well, before Voldemort. Now they were essentially quarantined in a small village.

"And how's the Big Apple?"

"Unrecognizable, by what he says. The Statue of Liberty is gone. There's another one in its place," Kevin said, lowering his head.

Hedwig wondered what this new statue was, no one had the spirit to ask Kevin about it. It could be one of Voldemort supporters on this side of the sea, or it could be one of Voldemort himself. Hedwig almost shivered imagining the former Statue of Liberty but with _his_ noseless face.

Then, all of a sudden, Jeff came into the Owls' Landing, effectively canceling the coffee break. "There's an urgent one. We need Whitewing," he said.

Prisha turned to Hedwig, "How are you feeling, girl? Ready for a new trip already?"

A confident hoot told the woman that the owl was ready.

"What's the package?" asked Chad.

Jeff shrugged. "It's concealed. Some secret magic thing. It's for the war effort."

All stood up, hurrying to their tasks.

It took Jeff about three minutes to leave and return with a purple squared package, the size of a small watermelon. All labels were correctly set on it. It was bound for Atlanta, so Hedwig was ready to complain if anyone so much as mentioned Two-Day Shipping.

They didn't though.

Just moments before Hedwig was all ready to leave, a loud commotion was heard outside. Three men in black, who Hedwig had never seen around the Post, thundered inside the office.

"Where is it?!" one of them yelled.

Jeff turned to Prisha and Chad, "Get her ready. Now," then he went outside.

The three humans in the owl room exchanged looks, then Kevin and Chad hurried outside to get a better look at the situation while Prisha hurried with the straps to the package.

"You know what I mean! The purple package. Where is it?" Hedwig heard one of the angry-looking men booming.

"I don't know what you're talking about. We have a lot of packages here. But, unless this so-called purple package is yours, I don't think I can help you," Jeff replied.

"I don't have time for this!" one man pulled out a wand, and Hedwig's eyes grew even bigger, "I will get that package or I'm going to start practicing an ass-flipping curse on people here. I'm not joking. It's not pretty."

Arse-flipping? Was that a thing? How did that even work?

"I'll give you up to 3," the man said.

Hedwig noticed Prisha moving fast, but not too much. She didn't want to catch the newcomers' attention. Outside, Hedwig saw Kevin pulling out his own wand, discreetly.

"1… 2…3..." the man counted, "Very well. _Rursus Culus_!"

It was all chaos. Kevin and a wizard from the Accounting Department engaged the attackers as they were about to fire. The mean-looking man was pushed away and his spell hit another attacker instead. In a glimpse, Hedwig realized with terror just what an arse-flipping curse did.

"Oh Fuck!" the man who was hit yelled in pain, as his trousers tore and his arse was flipped inside out.

_Why, triple hooting fuck._

"Oh my god, oh my god!" Prisha said as she raced to close the door.

"It's over there, isn't it? In that room!" the attacker's voice echoed outside.

Hedwig turned with panic to Prisha, whose eyes had expanded at once. The owl couldn't speak English, but there was no problem letting Prisha know that she didn't want her small arse flipped either.

The other owls in the room started hooting loudly. As if they wanted the attackers to find them. Those daft birds...

Fortunately, Kevin and the head accountant were giving a hell of a fight, for the attacker hadn't come in yet. Still, horrifying yells echoed. Hedwig's heart raced, how many arses had been flipped already?

The other owls were definitely cowards, for they flew out of the window soon enough. Proudwing ate his pride and was the first one out. Hedwig would have considered joining them, but Prisha was still fastening the package's straps and it was better to let her finish.

Then something hard hit against the door. Hedwig and Prisha jumped on their places.

"Oh god!" the woman said, closing her eyes. She seemed to be praying.

Then a man entered, but it was not the attacker. It was Chad. He had a terrified look on his face as he closed the door again. Hedwig was able to see fire behind him in the few seconds the door was opened.

"Holy fuck! Someone just flipped Jeff Bezos' ass!" he announced, breathing heavily, "Well, I think it was his. Can't see much."

Prisha wanted to ask something, but Chad stopped her, "What are you going about? Finish those stupid straps already!"

The woman nodded and did so.

Hedwig was relieved when the last strap was in place, she gave a last look back as Prisha told the owl to leave with both hands.

And Hedwig left a burning place. Again. She was just taking to the airs with the purple package firmly on her claws when she heard the door open once more. She really hoped her annoying curry-loving friends were alright.

For a whole hour, Hedwig didn't allow herself to look back. She focused entirely on flying, driven by adrenaline and fear. Her wings were strong and, even when the package was really the size of a small-watermelon, it thankfully didn't weight as much. Hedwig made good progress because of this.

With every flap of her wings, her surroundings changed. The forest turned thicker, and quieter too. By the time Hedwig stopped and dared to glimpse back, it was already dark and the lights from the _Secured Post_ couldn't be seen anymore.

Hedwig resumed her flight at once. The attackers might as well be on her tail, so to speak. She had to put as much distance to them as possible. It was not until she had flown something close to a hundred miles that she thought of looking for shelter.

A suitable place to spend the night was not hard to find. However, her sleep was short and her rest uneasy. In the morning, and after checking that no one was around, Hedwig went on with her journey. East and South.

She thought a lot about her friends that day. Chad, Prisha, and even awkwardly annoying Kevin. She hoped they were alright and that their arses were still in their places. Maybe the attackers didn't do anything to them. Maybe they thought there was no point once the package was out of their reach. However, Hedwig knew that was wishful thinking. Voldemort hadn't stopped his attack at Hogwarts after Dumbledore's death.

With a feeling of uncertainty, Hedwig continued her way. The owl flew day and night; around high mountains and over green fields. She occasionally stopped to look for a good prey or to drink from a nearby river. Yet, she went on with her mission.

At times, she wondered what was the purpose of it. After all, the _Post_ may have fallen now, its location disclosed. Maybe there was no place to return any more. Maybe Hedwig was homeless again. What was the point of carrying on in a situation like this?

 _It's like Black Breakfast all over again_ , she thought.

By the third day of her trip, Hedwig had decided to put all those thoughts away. She was a delivery owl. She had the task of getting mail to those in need of it. She was too bloody good at that job as well. After all, she hadn't been three times _Employee of the Month_ for nothing.

That was how, with a new resolve, the owl decided what she was going to do. First, she would deal with the package. Whatever mysterious thing it contained, Hedwig was going to deliver it on time. As always. Then, once her mission was carried to a satisfying conclusion, she would go back to the Post. She needed to find out if it was still there. After that, well, she imagined step three would be clearer by then.

By the time she crossed the cornfields in the middle of the country, Hedwig was already more relaxed, even if a bit cautious. Her days were mostly flying and thinking about the package she was carrying. She didn't know what kind of magic gimmick it contained, but it definitely felt as if there was some liquid to it.

Whatever it was, it must be important. Important enough to flip several arses for it.

 _It's for the war effort_ , Jeff had said.

Hedwig really hoped so. Someone needed to right the wrongs that had been made. To fix everything that had been broken that day.

Having found new resolve in her mission, Hedwig pressed on. Normally, it would have taken her something under a week to reach Atlanta. However, with the cautious detours she had taken and the package's weight, two extra days passed before she saw the limits of Georgia.

It was a silent and dark night, so it was hard to see anything. Still, Hedwig knew she was near the river already. The magic used on owls gave her that uncanny sense of orientation. She knew not only her destination, but the right path to find it.

 _A magical GPS_ , Chad would call it.

Before Hedwig could form even the traces of a nostalgic thought, something caught her attention. She heard the wind, even though the air had been motionless for hours now. At first, it had sounded like a whisper, but it kept going louder and louder. When the whizzing sound turned too suspicious to ignore, Hedwig turned back.

Her small heart almost did a backflip when she saw them.

Two men were following her in brooms. They were trying to be quiet, but Hedwig's senses couldn't be underestimated. Hedwig knew who those men were at once. They were the ones who attacked the Post. The ones who wanted the package.

Hedwig swallowed a nervous hoot.

Her good luck had run out, it seemed. Hedwig hadn't stopped much that day, wanting to reach her destination by the night. She felt knackered. Even so, the owl hurried up as much as she could. She couldn't allow herself to get caught. Unfortunately, her white feathers and the landscape didn't provide much cover.

 _Cursed South East and it's stupidly smaller trees_ , she whined.

Hedwig knew it was a lost cause, but she tried to lose them anyway. She turned right, then left, then she dived and made a sharp change in direction. It was of no use, they were only getting closer. Hedwig panicked.

"Give up little owl!" one man shouted through the night air, "Just give us the package."

Hedwig considered doing it for a moment, but she dismissed it at once. Many arses would have been flipped in vain if she did so. There was also a part of her that had been holding some guilt since the _Black Breakfast_ ; a pang of guilt that didn't let her do as they said. It was really stupid though, holding to her awkward sense of conscience at this moment. It was a given that clinging to the package wasn't going to make Harry return. And the men would probably get it with or without her help. Even so, Hedwig just couldn't allow herself to do it.

 _Bravery was such a stupid thing_ , she thought. _Bravery on a small owl with no business in the wars of men even more so._

Hedwig considered her options. Dropping the package wouldn't work. Those were wizards, they would find it in a tic. And even when she could see Atlanta's lights now, she was not going to make it before the attackers reached her.

The first flash of light interrupted Hedwig's attempts at crafting a plan. The next spell through all conscious thought out of the window. She put all of her focus on elusive maneuvering. Hedwig was fast enough to dodge and dive under the shining blasts, still, the nasty spells kept coming. They kept painting the night as a festival of sinister colors. And, sooner or later, one of those flashes would be painting Hedwig too.

 _Such a sudden way to go_ , she thought. _Blasted out of the night sky by some magic thugs on brooms._

When a green flash almost got her in the back, Hedwig decided she couldn't keep dodging anymore. She turned back and attempted the good old peck-an-eye-out tactic. She didn't succeed, but at least she scratched the cheek of one of the attackers, unsteadying him for a moment.

"I'll tear the feathers out of that fucking owl!"

Hedwig embraced her new tactic, trying to make the men fall off of their brooms. It worked as a surprise, but not for long. They caught on her plan and the package didn't allow Hedwig for much movement. A wrong move and they would snatch it out of her claws as well.

It was then that she got hit.

The orange spell got her right on her left wing, making her sidetrack at once. Tha attack had scorched the feathers and seared the tender skin near her left shoulder, leaving a burnt scent into the night air. Hedwig produced a high-pitch hoot, almost a wail, but still managed to hold on to the package. She was going down, it was only a matter of seconds now.

Then, she heard voices. A muggle gunshot echoed and Hedwig saw one of the attackers tumble into the night, hurrying some spell to save himself from the nasty fall.

"To hell with these no-majs!" he shouted, as he went down.

Hedwig couldn't understand much of what was going on. There was a struggle and more loud voices. She thought a local wizard had joined the muggle in the fight against the attackers. Yet she wasn't so sure. Maybe the distraction would have been enough to run safely away, after all, her destination was just on the outskirts of the city. Hedwig was badly injured though, and her sight was getting blurry.

"It's getting away!" one attacker yelled as the housing under them became denser.

After a new confusing yell, Hedwig saw the spell, coming to her as in slow motion. At first, she thought she had been hit, but she had jerked just in time. The spell hit the package instead. There was an explosion of purple dust that covered Hedwig. She couldn't see anything, her eyes were sure purple and bloodshot at the same time. She couldn't breathe anything but the dust. Her senses were a rollercoaster.

Hedwig tumbled out of the purple cloud, with her insides feeling like fire. She saw her destination right away. The old house where she was supposed to deliver the package. How was she able to get so close in her condition? She had no ruddy idea.

As a desperate last attempt, Hedwig used her remaining strength to fly there. No help was certain at that house, but it was her goal. Something felt inexplicably right about completing her task, even if she died doing so.

 _It was a shame the package exploded_ , she thought. In her altered state of mind, all Hedwig could think of was on Jeff's rules for returns. Could the client get his money back if he couldn't gather all the purple smoke to return it?

The house looked closer now, but Hedwig couldn't flap her wings any longer. She was diving faster than a broom. She felt like giving up. She wished she could listen to Harry saying ' _You did a good job, girl. I'm proud_ '. However, all she could hear was a loud crash. Then came the pain. Hedwig's eyes closed and the last thing she saw before passing out was the shattered glass all around.


	3. A Picture from Someone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hedwig wakes in a different situation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. Thanks a lot to FemaleDemon(ffnet) for helping me give a look at this before publishing.
> 
> 2\. Any error here is mine and not from my reviewer. If you spot anything or have a doubt about the grammar used or plot just PM me, I'm always swift to answer.
> 
> 3\. I'm going to start sharing updates at the twitter account @TimeTravelFFics
> 
> 5\. This chap is a bit lengthier this time, some ground to cover. Hope it's not too long.
> 
> 6\. Enjoy.

Hedwig came back to herself eventually, slowly at first, but then all at once. Her memories and consciousness were a nasty blur, and, if there was something she was certain of, was that she felt like crap.

Her head hurt. There was this buzzing echo in it and the aching came from all directions. It was as if someone had been using her head as one of those Quidditch balls, the ones they kept beating from side to side. Her throat felt painfully dry and raspy as well. She tried to shift a little, only to discover the searing pain on her left wing. It was dreadful. It felt as if her very feathers had been pulled away one by one and the skin underneath was burning.

She let out a wailing hoot, but even that sounded completely off.

After remaining still for a while, the pain subsided. Hedwig took a series of long and slow breaths before she ventured to open her eyes. The light came violently. It wasn't the usual light which offered her details of the world, but a pesky and blurry thing instead. However, she did notice that the colours were sharper and richer than she remembered.

The room around her was plain and mostly empty. There was next to no decoration and the furniture looked like the bare minimum. Somewhere outside, a woman was singing, but her voice felt far away. Hedwig saw a window on the farthest end of the room, where the shape of some buildings could be distinguished. The window's glass had no signs of having been broken, which shook the memories out of her.

The glass. The purple package. Her wing. The explosion. The crash.

All kind of emotions came to her in a whirlwind, as she had never felt them before. She thought of her friends back at the _Post_ and got a bit worried about her current situation as well. Was she in that Atlanta house? Had she made it in time? Was the product going to get a 1-star review because it exploded before reaching its destination?

Hedwig wasn't sure.

It was then that the big shock came. She tried to inspect the damage to her left wing, but when she moved it to the front she noticed fingers instead.

_What the fuck?!_

Hedwig jumped on her place, throwing a weird and loud sound into the air. Instead of a wing, she had a hand, a human hand... with fingers. That unfamiliar hand even seemed to move at her command. By reflex, it touched her face and things went even weirder. She felt a human face, made of naked skin and hair instead of feathers.

"Haaaaa!" she croaked loudly.

For a moment, she thought she was dreaming. She was no stranger to nightmares. However, those usually involved Lucius' Malfoy's exploding head, or Voldemort hitting Harry with a sack of birdseed while repeating over and over again that the boy was dead. If this was a dream though, why did her pain feel so real?

Hedwig tried to fly in desperation, but all she managed to do was flap her human arms awkwardly. The worthless effort only helped to bring the pain back. She turned to her side in panic, wrestling away the bedsheets that were covering her now human legs. She was in bed and even had some clothes on. She needed to escape, to find safe shelter. After that, she would decide what was going on and what to do about it.

Her human feet found the floor. She stared at them in disbelief. _If I can't fly then maybe I can run away, as humans do_ , she thought.

She couldn't. The moment she tried to stand up, she lost balance and fell to the floor. Face first. The throbbing pain more intense than ever.

"Oh my goodness!" a female voice echoed in the room as the singing lady's voice outside became louder.

Before she knew it, Hedwig was helped back into bed. She was thankful and scared at the same time. There was a woman in the room now, looking curious and concerned. She walked a few steps away once Hedwig was in bed, sitting on a nearby chair. Her wavy hair was short and brown. She had a small round nose and a skin that was of a light tone of brown. The woman's dark eyes seemed to be studying her.

Hedwig was distracted for a moment, for her attention turned to the open door, to the music outside. Noticing that, the woman pulled something out of her pocket. A wand. This woman was a witch.

Something that sounded an awful lot like a gasp came out of Hedwig, as she tried desperately to move closer to the wall behind her. She remembered those men who had attacked her. Did this woman know arse-flipping curses? What was she going to do to her?

"Easy, easy, don't be afraid. I'm not going to hurt you. Look," hurried the woman when she saw Hedwig's reaction. She pointed her wand to the door, then the song outside ended and the door closed. After that, the woman smiled and put her wand back in her pocket. "Whitney Houston. It's difficult to find new songs these days."

That seemed to relax Hedwig. She settled back in her place, looking cautiously at this woman.

"My name is Marina, Marina Rivera," the woman said. "I imagine you must have some questions."

Now that was a big effing understatement. If she had arrived at the office and found Proudwing on her perch she would have some questions. This was on a whole new level. She had bloody long legs for Merlin's sake! Hedwig was too afraid to answer that though. Actually, she didn't know if she could answer even if she tried. Would she be able to talk like a human now?

"You're an owl," Marina said suddenly. It wasn't a question.

Hedwig was able to produce what she considered to be a decent nod.

"Can you understand me? The words I'm saying?" Marina asked.

Hedwig nodded again.

"Good. I had been thinking, hoping, that owls might have some understanding of human language. This makes things way easier. Can you talk?"

What followed was a couple of embarrassing attempts at speaking, which only produced croaky-like sounds. Hedwig knew the words, but this new voice was something foreign to her.

She realized then that she didn't like it, any of it. She didn't like the voice or those stupid weak legs that were too difficult to use. She wasn't a fan of the pain either. Her face still hurt from hitting the ground. Hedwig wanted to be an owl again. She liked being an owl.

"Oh, forget about talking. We can sort this out. For now, just listen to me," Marina said when it was clear they weren't going anywhere with that. "You were delivering a package to me. Remember that part?"

Hedwig nodded again. Marina's name had been on the purple package. That and the destination's city. As usual, the full address wasn't featured in the labels, but that didn't matter. As an owl, Hedwig had known exactly where to deliver the package to.

After putting a strand of hair away from her face, Marina continued, "That package contained a potion to help the transition into an _Animagus_. To make it quick and easy. You see, an Animagus is a wizard or witch who can turn into an animal. We were really counting on it, to boost our stealth missions. It's unfortunate that you were attacked before arriving here," she said, then she hurried to correct herself, "Not only because of the potion, of course. I'm really sorry you got dragged into this."

Well, that had been Hedwig's fault in a big part. She knew every Secure Post in the country was actively involved in the war. If she had decided to live in the forest without seeing any human ever again, then she wouldn't have been dragged into anything. None of this would've happened. Hedwig would still be a happy owl looking for her next prey.

But… Would she though? Hedwig was pretty aware of why she hadn't chosen that life. _Black Breakfast_ still burdened her in some way. She didn't want to see heads exploding or arses being flipped as a way of life, but she didn't want to forget either. It was the only thing she could do for Harry now. Remember. Keep a tab on things.

Which was bollocks, by the way. Harry wouldn't have expected her to be involved in the war efforts after his death. But guilt was a silly little thing.

Marina continued with her explanation, "I saw you crash into my window and immediately knew the potion had affected you somehow. It didn't take a genius to notice, you know. You started changing before my eyes. We didn't know what kind of effect it would have outside of humans. Guess we do now," the woman gave her a warm smile, "Here, take a look."

Marina handed Hedwig a mirror, which she almost dropped. It wasn't only the fact that Hedwig wasn't used to human hands, she was nervous as hell too. The woman helped Hedwig get a better grip at it and soon enough Hedwig managed to look into the small mirror. She was stunned.

It was a given that she was a human, she already knew that. However, seeing it was an entirely different experience. There was no owl looking at her from the other side of the mirror, but a young woman. She was no expert in human looks, but she reckoned she was younger than Marina, though older than Harry the last time she saw him. Her skin was creamy white, with a handful of dark dots on her neck and shoulders that seemed to continue even under her bandages. Her hair was straight and long, but it broke at sharp angles here and there. It was white in colour. Not grey or silver, but truly white, with only a hint of yellow near the tips. Her eyebrows were a tad more yellow, but still of a light tone, like whiteish straw. In contrast, the yellow in her big upturned eyes was deep and almost amber. She had no beak anymore, but her nose was small and hooked as one.

"I imagine it must be quite a shock," said Alice.

That was a way to put it. Hedwig passed a finger carefully over her nose, then moved her hand to her hair. It was a very foreign face, yet, at the same time, totally her.

Once Hedwig was more relaxed, Marina proceeded to check on her health. She changed bandages and announced she was almost back to full health. Fortunately, Marina understood Hedwig's huff as a sign of disagreement and gave her a pain relief potion. In seconds, almost all of Hedwig's pain went away.

"I was thinking," Alice said after returning to her chair, "It may not be permanent. The change. Maybe if this thing can turn a person into an Animagus, it goes the other way for you. Perhaps you can turn into a human and back into an owl at will."

Hedwig turned to her at once. Was permanent really an option? She didn't want to. She didn't have anything against the human body, still, she wanted to be herself again. She accepted humans had certain advantages, like how big they were or the amount of bacon they could eat. Nevertheless, Hedwig still preferred her old body. The freedom flying produced wasn't something the human body could match.

"Want to give it a try? Turning back into an owl?"

Hell yes. She felt well enough to give a go at it. But, was there a button or something? How was she supposed to turn back into an owl at will?

Marina must have noticed her hesitating because she tried to follow with what sounded like a good suggestion. "You can try closing your eyes. Picturing yourself as an owl, perhaps? I wouldn't really know. I'm not an Animagus."

Hedwig tried. She really did. She tried the crap out that transformation. But, no matter how hard she pictured her wings, it just didn't work. She got scared.

"Don't worry. It may take some time for you to get a grasp of it," Marina encouraged her, "You can always try it again later. For now, it might be better if you rest. You had a crazy night back at Atlanta."

In a very owl-like fashion, Hedwig moved her head sideways, visibly confused.

"You couldn't expect us to stay there after the attack, could you? I apparated us here before they reached the house. We're in New York, Brooklyn actually."

Hedwig turned to the window once more. She did saw taller apartments, but not so much. Was this really New York? She wouldn't know. She had never actually been in New York before.

Although, what really caught her attention was Marina's actions towards her. The woman had not only treated her wounds, but she had taken her to a safe place as well. Was there a reason for that? Or was it just selfless kindness?

She had been dressed in comfortable baggy clothes. Which Hedwig appreciated, though she never really saw the value in clothes.

"Are you hungry? I can get you some food."

Hedwig hurried to nod enthusiastically. The woman looked amused and she left to get her something to eat. Hedwig hoped bacon was included in the menu.

Bacon was not on the menu. What Marina brought to her consisted mostly of fruits and a hot vegetable broth. There were also some cookies and a bouncy colourful thing that Marina called lemon gelatin. It scared her at first, but it was sweet and tasted good to her. At first, it had seemed like too much food to Hedwig, but she didn't have trouble finishing all of it. Hedwig was surprised to discover the amount of food this new body demanded. If she had eaten half of this as an owl, she would have exploded.

"I only got packaged and frozen food, but I think it's enough to not starve. Do you eat meat? I guess you do, right? I've heard owls eat mice. It's just that I have never owned an owl before," Marina said enthusiastically, then her eyes grew wide and hurried to add, "Not that I think I could own you or anything. I mean, you're a person now… Gosh, this is weird."

Hedwig was confused, she hadn't thought this could change her situation in any way. Not until now. Having a master had never felt odd to her. That was her purpose, after all, it was what owls were supposed to do. Could she still deliver letters as a human? What would she do if she couldn't?

She decided there would be time to go over that later, she had to hurry with her answer. So Hedwig nodded at Marina.

"Yes? Yes, what?" Marina looked stunned for a moment, "Yes, you eat meat?"

Hedwig nodded as quickly as she could. A large smile on her face. The hopes for future bacon increased tenfold.

Marina looked amused at her eagerness.

The following days were much better than what Hedwig had expected. There was bacon, but it was previously frozen and didn't come as often as she would've liked. She didn't give chicken to her, which was a relief. Also, her left shoulder was fully recovered and bandage-free in a couple of days.

Marina turned out to be a good person. She kept feeding her and teaching her how to be human. Hedwig was soon walking easily by herself, and, in a couple of days, she mastered the use of a fork as well. Using the loo took a bit more of practice, and even when she got a hold of that too, she still wasn't very happy with the idea. There was a lot of over-complicated rituals involved with common human tasks. Things such as dressing and disposing of her body wastes became adventures of their own. It was even worse a week later when she had to deal with other phases of the human female body.

Thankfully, Marina was very helpful. She was patient and always showed her a smile. Something that was very much needed in Hedwig's speech lessons. The former owl was not as loud and erratic anymore, but she was still a few steps away from producing anything that resembled an intelligent conversation.

All in all, Hedwig sorted it out. She couldn't say that she could pass as a human woman to anyone who would visit, but she could at least function as one. Which was a small reward while she found a way to get her old body back.

Come to think of it; no human visitors ever came to that old apartment. It was only Marina and her the whole time. The woman insisted in being glad to have some company, but some days she left to some secret errands. Hedwig imagined those were related to the war efforts.

From her window, she could tell the streets were a dangerous place. People avoided going out if they could, and at times there were yells and struggles. Some nights, the light of rogue spells reached the fast-food restaurant nearby. It was called Wendy's but for some reason, the sign had a girl that resembled Ron's sister.

"It's their city now," Marina had told Hedwig when she saw her looking out of the window. "Their world."

Hedwig got news about her old home as well, _The Secure Post_. Marina said the attackers had been few, but being discovered was enough for people to leave the settlement. The inhabitants fled, no one would know where they were until they established a new Post and contacted the rest of the resistance. The old place had gone to the flames though. Hedwig wondered if her Amazon colleagues had made it to the new shelter with their arses untouched, or if they had fallen in that attack.

In a way, Marina reminded Hedwig of Prisha's joyful smile, but with Chad's outgoing humour. She had none of Kevin's goofiness and bad-timed puns, thankfully. Even so, if she was honest with herself, Hedwig had to admit that she had been somewhat fond of Kevin as well.

Her life as an Amazon deliverer seemed to have ended. As suddenly as her life at Hogwarts had ended. It was bewildering how delivering a single package could change the world so much.

So the days passed at the small Brooklyn apartment. A few weeks after her arrival, Hedwig had still to learn how to speak properly. It was in large part a motivation problem. The guilt had taken much of her, feeling it even harsher now than when she was a simple owl. Marina tried to be supportive at times, but she had personal things to deal with herself.

One day, when the woman was out, Hedwig looked around the apartment. She was dreadfully bored and, after a couple of hours, she found an old photo album. Hedwig didn't see anything bad with going through it.

Moving pictures of what seemed to be Marina's family greeted Hedwig in that album. A man throwing sparkles with his wand while a boy cheered from Marina's arms. They were in the park in one, and by the river shore in another. Always happy. Hedwig didn't know them but something compelled her to keep flipping the pages. She understood the need for company. She also kept remembering the fact that she was barren, so she would never get the chance to have offspring of her own. Not that her kids would have been as featherless as the happy boy in the pictures, but still.

"Brad was a muggle-born," Marina said suddenly. Hedwig hadn't heard her arrive, "That was his only crime. Apparently my baby's crime as well."

Hedwig didn't know what to say. Marina was obviously sad, but emotions as a whole were different from how she experienced them like an owl. Would peeking her softly with her nose be acceptable human behaviour? Or rubbing her head against the woman's neck?

"They're gone now. The resistance is all I have now," Marina said, pursing her lips. "Well, the resistance and you. We're friends, right?"

Hedwig nodded, though she didn't exactly know how to be a friend to her. Apparently humans expected something different from their human friends than they expected from their owls.

Thankfully, Marina understood Hedwig's uneasiness. The woman let out a small laugh, but her eyes still had tears on them. She put the folder with papers she was carrying on the table and pulled a chair, "Come, let's sit down. I'll tell you about them. If you want to hear."

It was an odd conversation, and Hedwig felt lost in the emotions for most of it. Though, if there was something she could understand, was how talking was helping Marina. She seemed suddenly sad at times, but at others, the memories brought new life to her.

"I won's stop fighting. Not until the end," the woman said as she closed the album.

Hedwig frowned, "Why?" she asked. She wasn't that comfortable speaking, so she tried to do it slowly and keep the words to a minimum.

It was something she couldn't understand. The woman wouldn't be able to bring her family back. Just as Hedwig couldn't bring Harry back. That's why she had fled Britain. Why were they still here?

"Oh, it's not revenge or anything. I'll probably never know exactly who did this," Marina said putting a hand on the album, "But I believe that maybe if I help, this won't happen to other people."

Hedwig nodded. It seemed too ruddy selfless, but she decided to accept that. After the woman reminded her of Chad, it was a surprise to find something of Harry in her too.

Marina sighed. She stood up, cleaning the tears away from her eyes. "Too much serious talk for a day, don't you think? I don't want to bore you with this stuff,"

In a hurry, Hedwig shook her head. She wasn't entirely sure what she felt, but she wasn't bored.

"Anyways, let's get on with dinner."

At that moment, as the woman turned, the folder on the table fell to the floor by accident. Marina knelt to pick the papers up, complaining of how clumsy she was that day. When Hedwig turned though, something caught her attention. A picture that she was quick to pick up.

It was a picture of a young woman. Her hair was shorter, but Hedwig recognized her at once.

Hermione.

Her eyes grew big as she stared at the picture then she turned to Marina, who noticed her surprise.

"Oh, that's nothing. It's just… Wait, you know her?"

Hedwig nodded quickly, "Her—Hermione."

The woman was visibly surprised, "Hermione Granger, yes. She's on England's resistance."

So she was alive. After all these years Hedwig had thought she was dead. But what was she doing now?

"You know her? Like, in person?"

Hedwig nodded.

Obviously there were not many ways an owl could meet a person that well to react as Hedwig had done. Marina understood that. "You… were Hermione's owl?"

"No," Hedwig said. "Harry's."

"Harry? Harry Potter?" Marina asked in disbelief.

"Yes."

Marina's eyes grew wide as she put the papers back on the table. She took a seat again, "That's… You? Harry Potter's owl? But… what the hell is Harry Potter's owl doing over here?"

"I escaped."

With her slow and stumbling way of talking, it took Hedwig an awful lot of time to tell her story to Marina. The woman believed her of course, yet she was still stunned by her. After dinner and a couple of drinks, Marina turned to Hedwig with a serious face.

"Do you want to meet her?" she asked.

Hedwig was confused at first since they had stopped talking about Hedwig's life at Hogwarts an hour ago.

"Hermione, do you want to meet her?"

Did she? Of course, she did. Hermione was one of the few people out there who could still remember her, aside from Ron and Hagrid — if they were still alive. But even so, what would she say to Hermione? "Surprise! I can use the loo now!"?

Hedwig nodded either way.

"I can make it happen," Marina said, "Someone was supposed to go to other countries and start distributing the Animagus potion. But this happened. The inventor of the potion is missing, probably dead now. We were thinking that maybe someone could figure the recipe from you."

Hedwig's eyebrows went up, she croaked and flapped her arms a bit before stopping. It felt weird doing that as a human.

"Oh, no need to worry. Nothing painful or dangerous. Just some basic tests," Marina said, "The thing is, considering your story, the plan might change. I could take you to some experts in England, talk to Granger there. Would you be up for that?"

Two worlds collided in Hedwig then. One that craved for Hogwarts, for the times when it seemed to her that nothing could go wrong in the world. There was already talk of Voldemort then but that had seemed foreign to Hedwig, and not like something that could actually happen. It was a time of innocence and joy. The other world was one of fear, one of being cautious and running away from a past that had taken so much from her.

It took Hedwig a full minute to make up her mind and nod.

"That's great! I'll sort it out. We can leave in a couple of days," Marina announced.

And, just like that, Hedwig's world turned around completely.

In two days time, and with everything packed, Hedwig left the only home she had known as a human.

"This might feel a bit nasty, but it's the safest way," Marina said as she took Hedwig's hand, "It's better if you close your eyes."

The moment she did so, the world spun around her. Her stomach twisted, and turned, then it twisted again. The feeling had appeared to be endless until Hedwig collapsed on a dark alley, throwing most of her breakfast away.

"Sorry. Side-along apparition is never easy at first," Marina said apologetically, cleaning the mess Hedwig had made with a twist of her wand and producing a glass with water on the next.

Hedwig turned to her with a murderous glance, still, she took the water. How could humans really think this was an acceptable way of travelling? Did they truly believe that it was better than flying? Were they nuts?

_If only I had my old wings._

"Come on, we have to move. It's just across the street, but we need to be careful either way."

They got safely to the other side, no attacker hopped on them as they walked the mostly deserted road. Hedwig thought she saw some movements on the upper levels of the buildings, but the ground levels looked abandoned. Then, Marina led them downstairs, through a boarded-up passage in the middle of the pavement. There they found a dark and smelly place with ugly letters on the walls and old newspapers on the floor. A cave of concrete in the middle of the city.

"This used to be the subway," Marina said once inside, "They would have a hard time looking in here. They barely touch anything that feels too No-Maj for them."

Hedwig knew they were headed to a resistance hideout, but she couldn't really see the charm of it. The air seemed dry and unmoving, nothing like the forests in the Northwest. An underground train used to pass through here years ago, but the place was dreadfully neglected now. Or had it always been like this?

" _Lumos_ ," Marina said and the point of her wand lit up. They could see better now, but the cavernous tunnel where Marina was headed was still silent and made Hedwig wary. "This way. Watch your step." the woman said as she jumped onto the train tracks.

It was weird to jump there willingly, however, Hedwig trusted Marina so she did so. The tracks seemed to get lost in the dark, as if going on forever. There were some rats around, but Hedwig was an owl so she was not afraid. She used to eat mice for breakfast. It was getting cold as well. After Hedwig shivered, Marina did something with her wand that made Hedwig's cold go away. The witch smiled warmly as she continued to guide them through the tunnel.

In a way it felt unnatural to Hedwig. She was an owl. A creature of the sky. Why was she underground again?

Hermione better had good treats waiting for her back home. Bigger treats.

A few steps further inside, Marina stopped. At their left there was a wall with more of those big, ugly letters. After making sure they were alone, Marina tapped her wand to some bricks and a door came out of it. The woman gave Hedwig a reassuring smile.

"Remember, your name is Shannon," the woman said, as she nodded forward. Marina knew her real name now, still, she had thought a more common name was a better way to avoid too many questions. The people of the rebellion were on their side but only few of them were on the loop with that strange potion and Hedwig's condition.

_Would they think I'm nuts if I tell them I'm an owl?_ she wondered.

Hedwig let out her first human sigh ever. Then, she let Marina guide her into the darkness.

Whatever she was expecting of the mysterious door, it was certainly not what she found. There was a sudden light all around her, blinding her. Then she heard a boisterous crowd, and a carnival of colour and sound welcomed her into a hectic market of sorts. There were food places, racks of clothes and some magical artefacts as well. Cauldrons and telescopes, dancing brooms and talking clocks. There were shouts promising the best offers around, and others arguing how that was a lie. The lines of shops extended as far as Hedwig's eyes could see and some people were singing or playing musical instruments at the sides. A man was buying flowers nervously at her left, and a bunch of kids ran by Hedwig's side, almost making her stumble on her new set of legs.

At her side, Marina seemed amused, " _Shannon_ , welcome to the Secure Post 14."

Hedwig blinked at her, still awestruck by the whole of it. A couple of owls flew over her head, making her feel as if she was on the wrong body again. She followed them with her human eyes until she realized there was something odd above them. It didn't even feel like a tunnel anymore, because the sun was shining bright all over their heads.

"It's enchanted," Marina told her, noticing what she was looking at, "It would be a downer to see the bricked ceiling all the time."

Hedwig nodded, still dumbfounded. Marina then dragged her through the place. The whole experience was a confusing mess, and yet a splendid mess. Marina hurried to show her all of her favourite places, got her the best food around, and even bought a scarf and a colour-changing jacket for her that would be handy on England's weather. All in all, there were a lot of things Hedwig wouldn't have found useful as an owl, but that for some reason were pleasant to experience as a human.

At one point they approached a plant shop, where the owner was arguing with a customer. Then, the woman took her wand out and threw a spell at him.

" _Herbifors_ ," she shouted, and the next moment flowers sprung out of the man's head.

"Wendy! Take these off! I don't know the counterspell!"

"You can just trim them while you pay me back for those spices you took," the woman said, as the customer walked away begrudgingly. People around him laughed at his flower hair.

"Weren't you too harsh there, Wendy?" asked Marina.

"None of it, Larry has always been kind of a pothead either way."

The woman then turned to Hedwig, which didn't go unnoticed by Marina.

"This is my cousin, Shannon," Marina said, then she turned to Hedwig. "Shannon, this is Wendy Bloomsmith. An old friend."

Wendy. Like the fast-food restaurant.

"Your cousin, you say?" Wendy asked, raising an eyebrow. She was looking between Shannon's creamy white skin and Marina's darker one.

"From Brad's side of the family. I'm looking after her."

"Oh, that's very nice of you." the woman gave Hedwig a kind smile. "How are you finding the good old _Post_ , dear?"

Hedwig was caught off guard. She wasn't used to people talking to her, especially strange people. "Loud"

Marina put a hand on Hedwig's shoulder. "She doesn't talk much. She had an accident recently. I'm looking after her."

She didn't reveal the true nature of Hedwig, but she didn't lie either.

"An accident? You mean…?" Wendy started. "Those bastards! I'm telling you, one of these days I'm going to get back at all of them."

"I know you will, Wendy," Marina answered.

Hedwig wondered what a person like Wendy could to the attackers who destroyed Amazon. The flowers on the head didn't seem as fearsome as the arse-flipping curse. Could she make flowers grow out of your arse? Hedwig didn't want to find out.

They soon said their goodbyes and followed on with their day. Wendy wasn't the only person to greet them, as Marina seemed to be well-known around. There was even one boy who seemed to know Kevin's brother, Bobby. Marina always introduced Hedwig as Shannon and always insisted on her being delighted with her company. Which sounded quite honest.

"It has been great, but I think it's almost time for our trip," Marina said eventually and guided her through a different zone of this bigger _Post_.

Houses were more common than shops on the street where they headed. Plenty of people still walked around though, and, as back at the shops, a few of them waved at Marina from the distance.

"I really enjoyed your company today," Marina said, "I hadn't had this much fun since… well, you know."

Marina's smile disappeared as they went into a small brown house on the left.

"I liked it," was all that Hedwig said, but her smile seemed to be enough for Marina.

Inside, Marina talked to some people from the resistance. Marina exchanged plans with them and talked freely about Hedwig being an owl. They were intrigued by the fact that Hedwig had been Harry Potter's owl.

When the time was right though, a man took Marina and Hedwig to a small room. The only thing there was a small table with what seemed to be a toy of a lighthouse sitting on top of it.

"You have five minutes," the man said, "Get as many updates from Granger as you can. Good luck."

Marina turned to Hedwig with a smile, "This is an international Portkey. It's not easy to hijack them, but we have talented people here. Don't worry, it's not pleasant but nowhere near as bad as apparition."

A Portkey? Was that what took Harry away back then? That's what Hermione had said. Hedwig couldn't forget. Hedwig stared at the little lighthouse with fear.

Marina noticed Hedwig's nervousness. "Ready? I'm sure Granger will be surprised, to put it lightly."

Was she ready? Hedwig wasn't sure. After the great day she just had, she might have considered that staying with Marina was a good option for her. She really enjoyed her company and the woman took care of Hedwig as if she was part of her family. However, Hedwig couldn't afford to not meet Hermione now. Not when she was so close.

Hedwig nodded.

"Cool. Now hold this toy with me, don't let go of it. You will feel a pull."

Trembling, she moved her human fingers to the toy. She was nervous, she had spent a good chunk of her life in America already. A moment later, and in a much more sudden way than last time, Hedwig made the trip across the ocean.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: The Keeper of the Courts


End file.
